Tim Leiweke and Masai Ujiri did their best Friday to convince Raptors fans that the sky is not falling despite Leiweke’s impending departure as Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment boss.

The thinking goes that Leiweke, a noted backer of the Raptors and basketball, boosted the franchise in a way the next MLSE head honcho will not be inclined to duplicate and that will lead to a decline.

Not so, said both Leiweke and Ujiri in a meeting with the Sun in Leiweke’s office that included discussion about the team’s new practice facility at Exhibition Place.

“We’re not going backwards. The fact we’re sitting here talking about a $32-million investment, clearly the (MLSE) board has bought in to Masai and the Raptors,” Leiweke said.

“I don’t care who comes in next, they are going to see the same thing I saw, which is, this market is changing. Basketball is amazing. It’s growth. It’s coming hard. The next person coming in will get that as I did and hopefully will not only be as supportive, but hopefully, better, smarter than I was in getting Masai the support he needs.”

Ujiri was even more emphatic.

“As long as I’m here, it’s not going to stop,” Ujiri said.

“We had a guy who was a huge advocate of the team and basketball and hey, pressure is on them to get somebody who is like that, because the Raptors are bigger than anybody that is going to be hired here and they better believe we’re going to win and we’re going to grow here.”

Leiweke said the franchise was in good hands with Ujiri.

“They should know the future of the Raptors is ultimately about Masai and they should feel extremely comfortable. My job was to find a good leader and I did. I will leave behind that great leader and he’s the guy who will take them to the next heights.”

Leiweke indicated he would be sticking around for at least a few more months — “I’ll see you here for breaking ground (in November for the training facility)” — and threw cold water on talk that the climate had something to do with his exit.

“The weather doesn’t bother me at all. I spent four years in Minneapolis starting the Timberwolves. We took a vacation during the holidays and we went to Vail (Colorado). That’s much ado about nothing,” Leiweke said.

Leiweke refused to admit disappointment at not being around to see through the practice facility, the all-star weekend and possibly the landing of a marquee free agent in 2016. He said he will at least be on hand and will take pride in the all-star events as the guest of both Ujiri and NBA commissioner Adam Silver.

“There’s a good staff here and they’re not only the people that not only got it, but will do all the work. I’m sure I will be here during that week enjoying it with them,” he said.

Still, Ujiri was quick to admit while the Raptors will be fine, he will miss having the man who repatriated him to Toronto around.

“It’s unfortunate and it affects me because of my relationship with Tim. It affects me because of chemistry, of how we worked here,” he said.

“It was phenomenal. It was great. We had ways of getting through everything, whether it was good or bad. Tim always figured out how to make it better for us.

“I’m not kissing his ass because he’s here. I’m with him every single day. That’s the difference, that’s what I’m going to miss is the chemistry and the working environment that he created here. This is a product of it. He always says to us that you have to build it for the next person. You have to have this vision.”

But it’s hard to imagine that even Leiweke thought he was building for somebody else to take over the job quite so quickly.

But that’s reality and Ujiri insists he will adapt.

“I’m not worried about whoever the next person is, the pressure is on them,” said the former NBA executive of the year.

“My job is the Raptors and we’ve gotten to a good part now and winning is our priority and building and growing and moving forward with the momentum (created last season).”

And how do you continue that momentum?

“You know how you build on it? You win,” Ujiri said, prompting chuckles from his soon-to-be former boss.

A ‘CONNECTED’ FACILTY

A new, state-of-the-art training facility at Exhibition Place is finally nearly a reality for the Raptors.

A process that began with Bryan Colangelo and carried on to Masai Ujiri and Tim Leiweke should be rubber-stamped by the City of Toronto Council next week and ground-breaking is slated to begin in November.

In a sit-down with the Sun, Leiweke said the new facility will be six times bigger than the outdated practice court/weight room on the third floor of the Air Canada Centre.

Ujiri said it will help build “a winning environment, a winning team” and added it was one of the first things he talked about when Leiweke was wooing him away from the Denver Nuggets over a year ago.

“It will be a high-performance centre where we are all in the same place, convenience, there are so many things that come into play with having this practice facility,” Ujiri said.

The front office visited a dozen other NBA training centres and constantly were told to budget for extra space, which is why there will be ample room for further expansion.

“You have to prepare this place for whoever is coming next and this is a 30-year project basically,” he said.

Leiweke added after coming from the extravagant Lakers/Kings training ground in Los Angeles, he immediately knew the ACC court was not nearly good enough.

Now, there will be a theatre-sized video room, a kitchen, offices for the coaches, front office, medical staff and analytics department that open onto the courts.

“Suddenly you get everybody in one place. Everything’s connected and you get a feel and a synergy that you’ve got a team there finally,” Leiweke said.

The executives shook off talk that the players would be unhappy to travel further every day and assured that the building would be ready to go by the time the NBA all-star weekend comes to Toronto in 2016.

Raptors will be in safe hands after Leiweke leaves

Tim Leiweke and Masai Ujiri did their best Friday to convince Raptors fans that the sky is not falling despite Leiweke’s impending departure as Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment boss.

The thinking goes that Leiweke, a noted backer of the Raptors and basketball, boosted the franchise in a way the next MLSE head honcho will not be inclined to duplicate and that will lead to a decline.

Not so, said both Leiweke and Ujiri in a meeting with the Sun in Leiweke’s office that included discussion about the team’s new practice facility at Exhibition Place.

“We’re not going backwards. The fact we’re sitting here talking about a $32-million investment, clearly the (MLSE) board has bought in to Masai and the Raptors,” Leiweke said.

“I don’t care who comes in next, they are going to see the same thing I saw, which is, this market is changing. Basketball is amazing. It’s growth. It’s coming hard. The next person coming in will get that as I did and hopefully will not only